Band-Aid

Like Kleenex (see entry under 1920s—Commerce in volume 2) tissues and Xerox copiers (see entry under 1960s—Commerce in volume 4), Band-Aid bandages have come to be the common name for the product, in this case an antiseptically sealed adhesive bandage designed for minor cuts and scrapes. The Band-Aid is composed of a pad that is placed over the wound, topped by adhesive "wings" that attach the bandage to the skin. The Band-Aid brand was introduced in 1921 by the Johnson & Johnson Company, which had been making surgical dressings since its incorporation in 1887. The company was founded by Robert Wood Johnson (1893–1968) and his brothers, James and Edward. Their company manufactured first-aid products that supported antiseptic methods then being widely adopted in American medicine.

Earle Dickson (1892–1961), a cotton buyer for Johnson & Johnson, developed the Band-Aid while trying to make a convenient, easy-to-apply bandage for his wife, Josephine, who was prone to many minor cuts and burns in the family kitchen. He placed squares of cotton gauze at intervals on an adhesive strip and covered them with crinoline. When she needed a bandage, his wife just cut as much of the strip as needed to dress a wound. Johnson & Johnson adapted Dickson's idea and began manufacturing the product, eventually rewarding him with a vice presidency.

Made by hand, the first Band-Aids were three inches wide and eighteen inches long. By 1924, they were being machine-made, and have long been sold as individually wrapped bandages in a variety of sizes and shapes. The familiar red thread for tearing open the protective covering was added in 1940. Band-Aid Plastic Strips were introduced in 1951; sheer vinyl versions, in 1958. Sport Strip adhesive bandages made their appearance in 1994. Three years later, Johnson & Johnson unveiled the Band-Aid Antibiotic Adhesive Bandage, the first ever to have specially formulated ointment on the pad. By 2001, more than a hundred billion Band-Aids had been manufactured.

—Edward Moran

For More Information

Band-Aid Brand Adhesive Bandages." http://www.bandaid.com (accessed January 18, 2002).

Foster, Lawrence G. A Company That Cares: One Hundred Year IllustratedHistory of Johnson & Johnson. New Brunswick, NJ: Johnson & Johnson, 1986.